JUST A BUNCH OF HOT AIR

Observe how hot air rises with a spiral

Suitable For

Grade 3

Difficulty

2

Time Required

<12 Hours

Supervision

Required

What’s it about?

One of the most well known facts of nature is that hot air rises. Together with the hot air, water vapor also rises. High up in the air, where it is very cold, this water vapor condensates or ‘form small droplets of water’ which we perceive as clouds and before we know it, it rains!

We cannot see hot air rise, but we can certainly test if it is true with the following science experiment:

Topics covered

Condensates

What will I need?

CANDLE

THIN STRING

TIN FOIL SHEET

SCISSORS

PENCIL

Procedure (Method)

Unfortunately, this section is only available in the e-book version of the project.

How does it work?

Unfortunately, this section is only available in the e-book version of the project.

When air is hot, its atoms are farther apart than when it is cold, and so it takes up more room. That makes hot air lighter than cold air, because the cold air has more atoms in the same amount of room or ‘volume’. As the air is heated by the candle’s flame, it rises and causes the foil spiral to turn.

Like the sound of it?

Why not check out the full worksheet in one of our popular e-books?

This particular science project can be found in any of the following Experiland e-books:

A project introduction and background, complete listing of required materials, step-by-step instructions on how to carry out the project, why it works, learn more section, as well as a science glossary with all the relevant terms make up each of the all-inclusive science project worksheets in our e-books!